Talaria
“Talaria, small wings fixed to the ankles of Mercury, and reckoned among his attributes. In many works of ancient art they are represented growing from his ankles as if they were a part of his bodily frame; but more frequently they are attached to him as a part of his dress, agreeably to the description of the poets; and this is commonly done by representing him with sandals, which have wings fastened to them on each side over the ankles. But there is a most beautiful bronze statue of this divinity in the museum at Naples, in which the artist, instead of the sole of a sandal, has made the straps unite in a rosette under the middle of the foot, evidently intending, by this elegant device, to represent the messenger of the gods as borne through space without touching the ground. A representation is seen in the preceding cut.” &mdash Smith; 1873
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Roman MythologySource
William Smith, A School Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1873) 308
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